Dictionary

cerclage Encirclement with a ring, loop, wire, or ligature. Cerclage can be done around bone fragments to hold them together, but it usually refers to an operation performed on the cervix to prevent a miscarriage.

cephalothoracic lipodystrophy A disorder characterized by painless symmetrical diffuse deposits of fat beneath the skin of the neck, upper trunk, arms, and legs. The condition is genetic and is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Also known as multiple symmetrical lipomatosis, Launois-Bensaude syndrome, Madelung disease, and familial benign cervical lipomatosis.

cephalosporin antibiotics A group of more than 20 antibiotic drugs that are based on compounds originally isolated from the fungus Cephalosporium acremonium. See also antibiotic.

cephalgia, histamine See cluster headache.

cephalgia Headache.

cephal- Prefix indicating the head.

centromere The “waist” of the chromosome that is essential for the division and retention of the chromosome in the cell. The centromere is a uniquely specialized region of the chromosome to which spindle fibers attach during cell division.

central vision A process in which millions of cells change light into nerve signals that tell the brain what the person is seeing. As a person reads, drives, and performs other activities that require fine, sharp, straight-ahead vision, light is focused onto the macula in the center of the retina, the lightsensitive layer of tissue…

central nervous system, spongy degeneration of the See Canavan disease.

central nervous system That part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal cord. Abbreviated CNS. The CNS is one of the two major divisions of the nervous system. The other is the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which is outside the brain and spinal cord. The PNS connects the CNS to sensory…

central line An infusion tube located in or near the heart, which is at the center of the circulatory system. For example, a Swan-Ganz catheter with its tip in the right atrium and ventricle of the heart is a central line.

central core disease of muscle One of the conditions that produces “floppy baby” syndrome. Central core disease of muscle causes hypotonia (low muscle tone) in a newborn baby, slowly progressive muscle weakness, and muscle cramps after exercise. Muscle biopsy shows a key diagnostic finding of absent mitochondria in the center of many muscle fibers. It…